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CPC technology class · C10

C10M - Lubricating Compositions

Lubricating compositions ; use of chemical substances either alone or as lubricating ingredients in a lubricating composition. 4,240 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year filing trajectory.

4,240
US patents granted
C10
Parent CPC class
20
Active assignees
+2%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

Lubricating Compositions ranks #262 of 670 CPC technology areas - 4,240 US patents granted since 2015, with filing up 2% over five years.

#262
of 670 CPC technology areas
4,240
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Idemitsu Kosan
leading assignee (213)
+2%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs
Top assignee: Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (213 patents)

CPC subclass C10M - LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS ; USE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES EITHER ALONE OR AS LUBRICATING INGREDIENTS IN A LUBRICATING COMPOSITION - covers 4,240 US utility patents granted between 2015 and 2025 according to USPTO PatentsView records, within the broader CPC class C10 (PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT). See our CPC classification guide for how the system works.

The competitive landscape in C10M is shaped by 20 distinct companies actively filing in this space. Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. leads with 213 patents, followed by The Lubrizol Corporation at 208 grants and Afton Chemical Corporation at 142.

Filing activity in C10M is up 2% over the past five years versus 2015-2019, a relatively steady filing pace. All counts come directly from USPTO PatentsView and reflect US granted utility patents only.

Is C10M innovation accelerating?

US utility-patent grants per year in C10M, 2015–2025 - recent five years are up 2% versus 2015–2019.

200250300350400450 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 228

Who leads C10M?

The 12 most active assignees in LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS ; USE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES EITHER ALONE OR AS LUBRICATING INGREDIENTS IN A LUBRICATING COMPOSITION - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Idemitsu Kosan is the most active filer in C10M, holding 213 of the 4,240 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass C10M
Rank Company Patents in C10M
#1 Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. 213
#2 The Lubrizol Corporation 208
#3 Afton Chemical Corporation 142
#4 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 140
#5 Infineum International Limited 81
#6 Chevron Oronite Company Llc 75
#7 Total Marketing Services 70
#8 Exxonmobil Chemical Patents Inc. 68
#9 JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation 63
#10 Chevron U.s.a. Inc. 61
#11 Eneos Corporation 55
#12 Kyodo Yushi Co., Ltd. 46
#13 THE Chemours Company FC, Llc 44
#14 Shell OIL Compny 41
#15 Biosynthetic Technologies, Llc 32
#16 Evonik Operations Gmbh 29
#17 Showa Denko K.k. 27
#18 Vallourec OIL AND GAS France 27
#19 JXTG Nippon OIL & Energy Corporation 25
#20 Neste OYJ 24

About This Class

CPC subclass C10M belongs to class C10.

4,240 patents were granted in this class between 2015 and 2025.

20 companies actively patent in this space.

Classification System

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system used by the USPTO and EPO.

← All Technology Classes Technology Rankings →

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C10M assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 14 C10M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Top 14 C10M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 050100150200250 Patents in C10M Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Idemitsu KosanThe LubrizolAfton ChemicalExxonmobil Research A…Infineum InternationalChevron OroniteTotal Marketing Servi…Exxonmobil Chemical P…Jx Nippon Oil & EnergyChevron UEneosKyodo YushiThe Chemours FcShell Oil Compny
Top 14 C10M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CPC class C10M?
CPC subclass C10M covers LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS ; USE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES EITHER ALONE OR AS LUBRICATING INGREDIENTS IN A LUBRICATING COMPOSITION. It belongs to CPC class C10 (PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT), with 4,240 US utility patents granted since 2015.
How many patents have been filed in C10M?
4,240 US utility patents were granted in CPC subclass C10M between 2015 and 2025, based on USPTO PatentsView data.
Which company holds the most patents in C10M?
Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. leads C10M with 213 patents, making it the most active assignee in this technology area.
How is patent data for C10M collected?
Patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It covers all US granted utility patents and assigns CPC codes based on the technology described in each patent.
What is the difference between CPC class and subclass?
A CPC class (e.g., C10) is a broad technology category. Subclasses like C10M provide finer granularity within that category. PlainPatent organizes data at the subclass level (4-character codes) for the most useful view of technology domains.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.